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A Dangerous Language - Gentill
4 stars

Although the previous books in this series all have some aspect of amateur detection, this one is more of a political thriller. The ongoing characters, Rowland Sinclair and friends, have more than the usual chance encounter with a famous historical figure. They are actually directly involved in a well publicized event. (Strange that they don’t appear in the history books.) Rowland volunteers to fly the dissident communist Egon Kisch to a peace conference. It is thought that secretly flying him in will circumvent the efforts of immigration authorities to keep him out.

(view spoiler)[Of course the flight never happens because in actual history, Kisch arrives by boat and makes a dramatic and dangerous entry into Australia, missing the peace conference, but generating a great deal of publicity for the cause. (hide spoiler)] I’d never heard of Egon Kisch. His presence in this story reads like exaggerated fiction. The real story is just as fantastic. Gentill hardly needed to embellish. Kisch, his anti-fascist message, and Austrailia’s draconian immigration law, are a fascinating story. It overshadows the fictional murder investigation which eventually seems to resolve itself through the excessive violence of the perpetrators.

This book contained many of the plot elements of the other books. There were more suspenseful threats to the lives of Rowland, Milton, Clyde and Edna. There’s another woman taking advantage of Rowland’s chivalry and polite manners. Wilfred comes, reluctantly, to the rescue. Mrs. Sinclair continues to flirt with ‘Aubrey’s’ friend Milton. Despite the predictable elements of each book, there are always surprising twists in the plot. And, I always learn something new from 20th century history.